10. Dissent

"Take your brother and sister to bed. Now."

The front door of the house slammed shut when she threw it behind her, taking a steadying breath as she tried to ignore Masaki's soft request to her oldest brother for an explanation to her mother's upset and distressing behavior.

The car ride back home from the German Embassy's New Year party had been anything but quiet.

You could say that 'explosive' was more of a word for it.

Orihime squeezed her eyes shut when Sora's saddened eyes fell on her as he walked up the stairs behind his brother and sister, choosing to reach for the top buttons of her coat instead while the front door opened behind her again.

"You couldn't wait until we were home," she told him accusingly, pointing at him with her silver jeweled clutch. "You just had to do it in front of the kids? Haven't you humiliated me enough for one night? We had to leave early because of you!"

Ichigo threw the door closed with a nonchalant flick of his wrist and locked it after he heard her angry words, his expression conveying sarcastic calm after he turned to face her again. "You felt humiliated tonight? I have a right to be angry after what you pulled!"

"What I pulled?! You punched him, right in front of everyone!" she cried, stamping her right, high-heeled foot on the dark laminated floor of their income hall.

"You were the one hanging all over that son of a bitch!" Ichigo hollered back, getting in her face. "You, my wife! With the one asshole you shouldn't even be anywhere near!"

Orihime scoffed at the accusation, "Excuse me?" she asked, lifting one perfectly groomed eyebrow. "Excuse me?!" she said louder, angered at the tacit implications her husband's words conveyed. He only stared back at her defiantly, clearly not about to apologize for his hurtful words. Orihime chuckled humorlessly, her disbelief at his attitude rendering her at a loss for words. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she whispered scornfully, before slapping him across his face. "Screw you, Ichigo. Screw. You."

His angered eyes followed her as she stormed off and up the stairs, running the tip of his tongue against the inside of his throbbing cheek. "Sure, just walk off. Nice and easy."

"Bite me! Happy freakin' new year!" she yelled back from the first floor, gathering her gray sequined gala dress in her hands before stomping off towards their bedroom.

"We're not done!" Ichigo said mockingly, hurrying up the stairs behind her, walking into their room scant moments after she did.

"You don't say!" she retorted viciously, throwing her winter coat and clutch on the armchair on her side of the room that was furthest from the door and reaching for her elaborate silver necklace resting above the sleeveless, heart shaped cleavage of the sequined bodice of her dress. "You've been waiting 20 years to tell me this, so let's hear it!" she said, throwing the piece of jewelry into its case that still lay open on her commode by the window. She then turned to face him defiantly from the other side of their bed.

Ichigo shook his head impatiently, biting his lower lip while loosening his silk silver necktie. "You're unbelievable…"

"Right!" Orihime bit back sarcastically, taking off her delicate silver bracelet. "You're the one who is unable to let go of something that happened ages back!" She lifted her head to the side, her seething eyes shooting daggers at his perplexed face. "Your behavior tonight said as much. So just admit it."

He scowled at her, but never said anything as they both continued to undress.

Orihime sighed, shook her head and sat herself on the edge of the bed with her back to him. "What's the point of holding on to a grudge for that long? I got over the fact that-"

"He drugged you and almost raped you," Ichigo finished for her, knowing that she would disguise the facts by softballing them as per usual and not feeling in the mood to use euphemisms in that particular moment.

Her shoulders tensed and she turned her head to stare at him, quietly fuming on the inside. "We promised that we would try and have a good time for Gertrude's sake! You promised me!"

"Does that translate in you laughing at each of his jokes and being all over him during dinner?!" he shouted back, throwing his dress shirt on his chair angrily. "Hm?"

"So you are still jealous," she quietly remarked, shaking her head and standing again after she'd taken off her pumps. "Jealous of a boy who had me for a hot minute," she added spitefully on her way to their walk in closet, the small silver accents in the train of her dress sparkling with each movement of her hips in the tight fitting bodice. "And I'm the one who's unbelievable…"

"See? You're doing it again!" he yelled, refusing to chase after her. "And I'm not jealous! You know exactly what it is that irked me about your behavior tonight, so don't you dare play the victim on me now!"

Her unamused laugh hit his ears a moment later. "Yeah, because I'm so good at playing one, right?" she called back, her tone dripping with sarcasm once more. She waited for him to reply and when he didn't, she smirked to herself with a roll of her eyes, letting her dress slide down her body. "Are you upset because although you saved me from the big bad sophomore guy all those years ago, I'm still not grateful for the fact that you beat him within an inch of his life?"

"I'm not apologizing for that," he said coolly, now standing behind her and startling her. "And I never will."

Orihime picked up her dress from the carpeted floor and delicately placed it back inside of its plastic dress bag. She sighed sadly at the sight of her barely worn, gorgeous designer dress, thinking how much of a waste it was. "Which makes you the asshole, not him," she quipped in an equally cool manner, now moving in front of her mirror to remove the white strapless bustier she'd worn underneath her dress. "In more ways than one," she added in a disappointed manner.

"I only want to protect your dignity, your honour as a woman because I am your husband…I never asked for your gratitude over what I did," he softly spoke, his expression still unapologetic. He placed his suit back on its designated spot in his closet and his dress shirt along with the t-shirt he'd worn in the laundry bin. "I did it because it was what he deserved after what he almost put you through. I thought that this was something we both saw eye to eye on."Ichigo turned to face her, enchanted by the gracious curves of her thong-clad backside and sighing in frustration. "So why are you defending him?"

"Because although he knew that you were coming tonight, he chose to come anyway and he apologized to me!" she answered in a hard tone. She let out a deep sigh and covered her naked breasts with an arm while reaching for her dark purple chamber robe and putting it on.

Finding no words to express his surprise at her revelation, Ichigo felt his irritation about the matter ebb away slowly and he reached for his drawer in turn, taking out a pair of cotton sleeping pants.

"That's why he came tonight," Orihime admitted, closing her robe around her naked body and seating herself on the padded bench in the middle of their dressing room. She waited for him to have put on his pants and searched for his eyes. "To apologize… to the both of us. But you never gave him the chance."

He sat down next to her with a forlorn grunt and looked at her regretfully. "It's just that when I think about what could've happened to you-"

"Nothing happened," she whispered back, turning her torso to him so he could lay his head against her chest comfortingly. "Not then, not tonight. Not ever." She kissed his forehead and smiled when their eyes met. "I came home with you in once piece, didn't I?" Orihime added with a jesting smirk.

"You could've come home just for the kids…" Ichigo replied guiltily. "I know I wouldn't have wanted to come back home with me."

She grinned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him closer. "You're right, I only came back here for the kids. Ricart is waiting for me in a car at the end of the block."

He laughed, realizing how stupid and impossible that sounded and therefore how retarded and insecure he must've sounded accusing her of being interested in another man. She was after all still the same girl he fell in love with; she was still the kind, compassionate and forgiving soul he'd always known her to be. He shouldn't have expected for her to act any other way with Ricart tonight, if he'd apologized to her. And now he had prevented her from celebrating the new year with all of their friends. "I don't deserve you…" he murmured against her chest.

"Maybe…" she replied softly, resting her chin on top of his head. "Or maybe it's the other way around. Who knows? Who cares?"

"I did deserve that slap you gave me, though,"Ichigo admitted, sitting back up and lifting his right leg over the bench, straddling the furniture to more effectively look at her. "And you read me perfectly, as always…"

"About how insecure you felt all night?" Orihime commented softly, sliding her right hand into his left on the bench.

Ichigo smiled wryly and closed his eyes with another sigh. "I guess that feeling like that could've come over as me being jealous… All those people tonight held prestigious degrees, living lives we can only dream of. Sometimes I wonder if-"

"No," she told him. "Never. I chose you and fell in love with you with my eyes wide open. I chose to take every step with you, to celebrate the joys or mourn during the trying times with you by my side."

He sighed and took her both her hands in his. "I'm not a doctor, or a lawyer… I never continued my studies and when I watched you hold all those complex conversations with all of them, enjoying yourself and being the belle of the ball, I felt pride for you, as I always do when you get to show how gorgeous and smart you are to other people."

She smiled a little at his words, feeling for her husband because she knew where his unspoken thoughts were leading him to next.

"And then there are times when I wonder if I'm enough," he confessed softly, smiling to himself sorrowfully as he stared at their joined hands. "I'm not thinking of ever going back to school though, that's not what this is about. I just wonder sometimes if I stimulate you enough mentally. Am I smart enough? Do I keep things interesting enough? Does she feel like she can talk to me about those intricate subjects? Is she still happy with me?"

"If I wasn't happy or interested, I wouldn't be here. You're more than enough," Orihime reassured him, staring at him sadly and shaking her head. "Just because you don't have a degree doesn't make you any less better than those people we met tonight. And I can promise you this right now that I tell you everything that happens at my work, I don't leave out anything because I think you wouldn't understand. You're patient with me and willing to listen to me when I come home from work, so why wouldn't I talk to you about it?" She cupped his face with a hand and smiled amusedly. "Though I hope you don't hate me for simplifying some psychological terms so that you can understand what I'm talking about."

Ichigo chuckled and shook his head, taking the hand touching his face in his.

"You're the smartest, most compassionate man I know, lover" she continued. "Going to school doesn't bring with it the life lessons you've learned or the brutal, yet necessary experiences you've endured as a Shinigami. Which is why I understand why you did what you did tonight…"

He closed his eyes sorrowfully. "I shouldn't have-"

"No," she whispered back, scooting closer and shaking her head comfortingly. She let him rest his head against her shoulder. "What's done is done…" She nudged him with her nose against his forehead and he looked up trustingly. "This is the path you chose to take for your life and I have no regrets for me nor do I have any for you. And I truly do not see why you should feel inadequate compared to those other people, you're the Vice-president of Operations of Karakura's number one recruitment agency, soon to be CEO now that Ikumi-san has decided to retire in a few years. That's quite a feat at your relatively young age. "

He watched her move herself on her knees in front of him before she took him into another embrace. "I've loved you from the moment I first saw you, Ichigo and I'm not about to stop. You're hardworking, generous and kind… A woman can't ask for more in a man and you deliver, each and every time."

Ichigo closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, tightening the hold of his hands on her small waist.

"I almost lost faith in my love for you twice and each time turned out to be a big mistake…" she whispered with a tender smile. "So, once Mamoru was born, I promised myself that I would never doubt what we have ever again. That I would never look back and I never did."

His nose nuzzled the side of her neck comfortingly and she moved her head in time with his, closing her eyes at the gentle sensation of his skin on her skin.

"And I want to believe that it is the faith that we have in our relationship that has kept us going all these years," she murmured leaning back a bit to take his face in her hands and have him look at her. "Not money, fancy careers or prestigious degrees. I don't think we'd be here otherwise, together in this beautiful house, with our three beautiful children."

"You're right…" he admitted throatily, eyes full of gratitude. Without hurting his pride or his self-confidence she'd managed to help him shake off his insecurities and he couldn't believe that this amazing woman was his. "You're absolutely right…"

She ran her hands through his chin length orange mane, her eyes turned soft. "Damn right I am, mister," she whispered against his lips, kissing them tenderly after. "I love you, always," she told him, looking him in the eyes seriously. "There will never be anyone else but you."

His eyes reflected the desperation he saw in hers and he nodded solemnly, burying his face in the crook of her shoulder again when his arms closed around her in another embrace. She and their children were what anchored him to this life, he knew. He'd always perceived Ricart as a treat to his wife and their marriage and seeing him tonight had made his protective instincts kick in. To fight to preserve what they had was what he'd promised himself he'd do, he would devote his entire being into providing and protecting his family, no matter what the cost. He couldn't imagine his life without them in it. It simply did not compute. "I don't know how I would ever manage to function without you, Hime… If I ever lost you, or the kids-""

"As long as you keep coming back home to me," she interrupted him, caressing the back of her hand against his cheek when she moved to get off the bench. She took the two fancy hair pins that kept her hair up in a messy, curly updo out and shook her lustrous hair free. "You have nothing to worry about," she finished, pulling the sash of her robe loose.

Ichigo lifted his eyes up to hers questioningly as he un-straddled the bench and then smirked when she lifted an eyebrow as her silent invitation. He reached for the folds of her robe and licked his lips while pulling her closer to stand in between his spread thighs.

The feel of his calloused hands running up her bare sides had her throw her head back in anticipatory pleasure. "You're my rock, Ichigo," she murmured with a small gasp when his lips landed on her stomach and worshipped her sensitive skin there. "I can't see a me without you…"

Their eyes met once more and she lost her breath at the pure intensity of the desire mirrored in his. He took her left nipple in his mouth and suckled on it for but a brief moment before his lips crashed with hers in a demanding kiss.

Breaking the kiss with a trembling gasp, Orihime freed herself from his hold and took a few steps back, her half exposed chest heaving out of breathlessness, her lips that were once colored a deep, matte red now swollen and glistening. She brought a finger to her mouth and took a moment to listen and assert the state of the other Reiatsu's in the house before they were to continue on their current course. "The moment they felt us reconcile they all calmed down. Only Mamoru is still up. Should we wait?"

Ichigo smirked and shrugged. "The walls in this house are pretty thick, but I do intend on making you scream."

She faced him again and grinned in turn. "Shall we test them, then?" She made a beckoning gesture with her right index finger and walked out of the closet giddily, taking off her thong and leaving it in the middle of their bedroom when she sensed him following.

Quickly closing the door to their room and locking it, she turned in time to see him pick up her underwear from the floor to twirl it around his finger. "Did you lose something, miss?"

Orihime smiled and leant against the door seductively, careful to hold the folds of her robe in such a manner that a deep cleavage ran all the way down to her belly button. "I don't know, did I?" she bit her lower lip and pushed herself away from the door, letting go of the purple garment completely when leisurely she began to make her way to him, the shiny fabric of her robe billowing behind her as she went. "Don't really feel like putting it back on anyway," she said sultrily, eyes gazing at him and his deliciously defined, beautifully built torso intently.

She stopped in front of him and took off the robe, following his gaze when it went over what was being offered to him. Her thong landed somewhere behind him when he threw it away absentmindedly.

"You're so fucking beautiful," he murmured, mouth watering at the sight of her generously plump breasts, the perfect rounding of her ass and salacious curves of her proportionate waist. Even after 3 kids, she was still the sexiest woman alive in his book.

She hummed in approval and took another step closer, hooking her thumbs over the rim of his sleeping pants and underwear, slowly pulling both garments down until gravity did the rest of the work for her.

She let one assenting eye fall on his muscular body and bit her lower lip, the thought of all those muscles working together to procure her sexual bliss only adding to her dangerously aroused state. His penis was ready and very much willing, the sight of it making her mouth water as well as other more downward situated places. "And yours is a naked sight that never ceases to amaze…"

He waited for her lips to be in his reach again before he pounced, stealing a deep kiss from her while his hands roamed, squeezed and pulled, the feeling of her naked body against his sending his mind reeling with want. "I need you…" he panted in her ear, wincing at a pleasurable stroke and licking the lobe. "Right the fuck now."

She grinned and took a small step back, coaxing him to turn around and step out of the clothes that had gathered around his feet. She met his questioning gaze with a mischievous one and then lifted herself on her toes to lick his lips with the tip of her tongue wantonly. "Lay back, lover," she murmured, pushing him onto the bed behind him. "Let me take care of you tonight."

Ichigo let himself fall back onto their bed with a self-indulgent smirk, moving his body upwards towards the center in anticipation when she threw her head and hair back sexily, looking at him with a fervor bordering on the predatory. He then quickly pushed the decorative pillows from their bed and propped himself against the headboard to enjoy the show.

"Let me show you how much I appreciate you, so you never forget," she throatily whispered, folding her arms against her breasts teasingly and swaying her hips seductively to an imaginary tune. "I want to show you how grateful and dedicated to you I am. How hot and wet the thought of you still makes me."

His teeth sank into his lower lip at the sight of her voluptuous form gyrating sexily just for him, his breath halting in his throat when she turned around and pulled her long caramel brown hair to one side, her red lips curling into a deliberate smirk over her shoulder when she began rolling movements with her hips. She knew that he loved the sight of her naked back, from her well-toned back muscles and the sensual crease running in between them, to her firm heart shaped buttocks. He also knew that she was proud of the shape of her body, they'd spent months training it back into shape together after the birth of their daughter and still worked out a few times a week to this day. "You're going to kill me, Hime," he murmured wantonly, wincing at the soft twitch his erection gave in agreement.

"It's all for you, lover. And I love it when you watch me," she whispered with one hand in her hair and the other on a hip. She grinned then, seeing him being completely mesmerized by her bouncing breasts when she continued to dance quietly by herself. "Don't you like what you see?" she asked naughtily, now lowering herself on her hands to climb onto the bed and crawl on top of him. Her predatory eyes left his when she lowered her head to kiss her way up his left thigh, making sure that her breasts brushed against his skin as she went, moaning in time with him at the delicious sensations that coursed through the both of them.

"Wow, look at you..." she whispered breathlessly with a giggle when she was face to face with the proud evidence of his arousal. The size of it along with the smell and sight of the pearly drops of pre-cum crowning it made her mind go blank and she had enclosed her swollen lips around it before she knew what she was doing, her need to please him overriding any other thought.

He was watching her through half closed eyelids, his chest heaving and every muscle in his body struggling to keep him from throwing her down on their bed and taking her hard and fast, with her hands pinned against mattress. He pulled her long hair back in between pleasured gasps and groans, finding her piercing eyes on him while her mouth diligently worked on his length and her tongue lewdly conveyed her mounting desire in hard, flickering and consistent licks. "Oh fuck…" was all he could muster as his eyes rolled upwards and he pressed them closed.

She moaned deep in her throat when she felt him throb, keeping an eye on his bodily reactions to gauge his level of arousal. Orihime then let go of him with a popping sound of her lips, grinning sultrily at him before taking him back inside her mouth as deep as she could, bobbing her head in earnest now, determined to give him the best oral pleasure she'd ever given him.

"Hime…" He groaned through gritted teeth, sucking in a shaky breath. He almost hated how good she'd gotten at this, because even after 20 years, he couldn't last as long as he wanted to whenever she loved him orally. And he understood that she wanted to give him all the pleasure tonight, but he prefered to have her enjoying herself too. The sex was always better when they both gave, received and connected with each other on a higher level. And then there was the way tonight went, so he needed to redeem himself to her.

The tense tone in his voice told her enough and she released him, lifting her head up to him questioningly.

"I don't want to do this if you're not with me, not tonight," Ichigo said, voice low. He reached out a hand for her. "Giddy up."

She moved back on all fours nimbly and crawled upwards again, placing her hands on each side of his head, keeping their eyes locked when he placed both his hands on her hips and coaxed them down. He kept looking at her when her body trembled a little, his tip pushing against her moist entrance and his mouth falling open as she slowly sucked in a breath through her teeth while their bodies joined and he sheathed himself deeply within her.

"Oh God yes…" she purred with her eyes closed, hips already beginning to roll on top of his needily.

He watched her body move sensually, both his hands cupping her ass to assist her grinding motions so they could synchronize the rocking of their bodies. When her eyes finally opened with that newfound wonder of how good their joining felt, he pulled her down on him by her neck to connect their lips, drink in her breathy moans and match her furious need with his own.

Giving his lips a last feline lick, Orihime sat up and shook all of her hair back so she could give him a full frontal look of her body when she leant back with her hands on his thighs and swirled her hips. "Just watch me…"

It wasn't like there was much of his body he actively controlled at this point, it was moving instinctively anyway, his eyes drunkenly staring at her movements with his mouth hanging open for the occasional sharp intake of much needed air. "Just like that, Hime…" he murmured, hands sliding up her hips to grab onto her jutting breasts.

She joined her hands with his on her chest, throwing her head back while her hips tirelessly worked on him, ever going faster, her subdued gasps of pleasure seemingly echoing all around them. "Feels so good… so good..."

He grunted agreeingly, completely lost in the pleasure she was procuring him. And it wasn't that he did not like her on top, he loved it, but as he continued to watch her sob and mewl in delight, he knew that she wouldn't mind what he wanted to do to her next before he couldn't hold his orgasm at bay any longer.

Orihime felt him sit up and take her face in his hands before kissing her lips. She smiled and opened her eyes, already knowing what he wanted. She loosely wrapped her arms around him, smile growing wider when he rolled them over the bed so he was on top. Their lips crashed back onto each other, their tongues rubbing, licking and teasing.

Ichigo then pulled out of her and sat up on his knees, tapping one of her thighs playfully. She bit her lip with a knowing grin and slowly turned around on her belly, lifting herself up on her knees sensually, throwing her damp hair over one shoulder invitingly.

His lips landed on her exposed shoulder when he moved to stand behind her, his thighs enclosing hers as she leant the back of her head against one of his shoulders. Her left hand took hold of his cupping her left breast while her other hand intertwined with his on her lower belly.

"You looked absolutely stunning tonight...The moment I saw you in that dress, I've wanted to fuck you like this…" he murmured in her ear, already pressing himself inside of her, smirking darkly at her quivering moan when he shoved the last of his inches within her. "Making you mine, over and over and over again…" he said, groaning possessively when her inner walls contracted around him. This was the position she liked best and he was well aware of that. There was a certain masochistic side to her, he had discovered, that liked to be subjected to his dominance, strength and raw sexual cravings.

And just the sight and thought of that alluring back of hers as he drove into her again and again drove him wild. "Bend over," he demanded throatily.

Barely had she done what he demanded of her, that he pulled her hips to his, filling her up to the hilt. "God…!" she gasped, gritting her teeth at the sweet agony of having him so deep within her. She managed to catch her breath after he left her panting for a few moments, before the next set of whipping thrusts left her sobbing her pleasure into the covers, her hands fisting the fabric desperately.

The ripples that ran up her buttocks each time he banged his pelvis against her had a hypnotizing effect on him and he couldn't stop the oncoming waves that would lead to his inevitable climax any longer. "I love you so much, my Hime…"

Orihime had no breath to answer, her voice otherwise occupied with the incessant whiny moans and sobs his rough loving obliged out of her. Her body was at his mercy and she loved it, revelled in it, pushing back whenever her trembling arms allowed her to. "So deep…" she groaned, one side of her face pressed against the mattress while her right hand snaked in between her legs to touch herself. "Please don't stop…" she whimpered, her own arousal now skyrocketing with the added play of her own fingers.

Throwing his head back with a grunt at the way she spasmed and tightened around him, Ichigo grabbed her by a shoulder and pulled her back against him, needing to slow things down for her continued pleasure. His right hand joined hers against her soaked womanhood and he mimicked her fevered motions there, his own feverish hip pumping reduced to a slow, methodical and hard grind, every inch of her inner walls rubbing against his shaft, fuelling their arousal just as much, albeit at a slower rate.

Her lips were searching for his over her shoulder and he indulged her, kissing her lovingly and staring at her kissing him back, so completely in love with this woman who gave him her all every time he needed her. She accepted him completely for the person he was and after nearly 20 years of marriage he could say that he'd lived the life he'd dreamt of living when they promised eternal loyalty to each other that summer evening all those years ago. She was the one promised for him, his soul mate; his one and only.

"Hime…?"

She nodded, her eyes still closed and body still shaking with each thrust. "Give it to me," she moaned, gasping a moment later when he spilled his warmth deep within her.

He did not stop pushing in and out of her, instead following her down when she lowered herself back on her hands and knees and further, laying his body on top of hers lightly.

Tilting her head back when his lips landed on her shoulder again, Orihime watched how his hands glided over hers on the bed and their fingers again intertwined and closed together. He had her pinned against the mattress with his body and he was grinding into her sensually, their perspiration mingling with each other, skin now sliding over skin erotically.

He moved slightly off of her and grabbed her by the crook of her left knee, lifting the limb to give him easier access when she rolled onto her side. Her could feel her body tense up, so he knew that she was close.

And just then, after but a few strokes, her orgasm crashed down on her, and she bit back the scream that bubbled up in her throat. She fell back onto the bed with a soft whimper and a smile, rolling over onto her stomach to grin at him coyly, finding him laying on his back with a worn out look on his face as he panted in silence.

Orihime moved closer and pressed her lips against the sweaty curve of his right shoulder, before lifting her head to look at him beseechingly, waiting for his attention to be back on her so he could kiss her languidly to finalize their reconciliation.

Ichigo then ran a hand through her messy and damp locks and smiled, "I don't know about you, but I could really go for a shower right about now."

She grinned mischievously and then jumped out of the bed. "Last one there, washes my hair!" she called, already halfway across the room.

He lazily moved onto his feet with a laugh. "Oh yeah?" he replied, sauntering towards their bathroom to join his beautiful wife under the warm stream of water she already had running, not minding having to wash her hair one bit.

Thank you for the support! Onto the next one!

-BDP-